Fireflies
by Maniacal Hero
Summary: Bea is going to work at a cabin in the woods and Mae wants to go along for the ride. Takes place in the middle of the game Night in the Woods.
1. Inviting A Friend

**Bea's POV**

I sat at the counter in my family's store, the Ol' Pickaxe, tapping my fingers on top of the counter in the store. I was bored out of my mind and needed something to do.

Not to forget, I also have work later. Hired to fix a potential explosion, aka a furnace. So, not only will I be bored and lonely, I'll be bored, lonely and will potentially die. If only someone I know would come in, I could see if they could come with me.

???: Heyyyy Beabea.

Me and my fucking mouth.

I turned towards the door to see my "friend". She was a blue cat with red eyes. She had an orange shirt with the number zero on it, jeans, and sneakers. I only knew her as Mae.

Bea: Hey Mae

Mae: How's it going?

Other than complete and sheer boredom?

Bea: Got a lot of rock salt to move. Came in early this year and, like, a crapload of snow shovels... Usually the distro place doesn't goof up like this.

Mae: Maybe it's run by weather wizards?

It literally took almost every bone in my body to not crack a smile or even a smirk.

Bea: Yeah, that's not a bad theory. So, what's up?

Mae: Wanna hang out tonight????

For some reason, I felt giddy about her asking if I wanted to hang out with her. Unfortunately for her...

Bea: Uh, I'm working. If you wanna, like, come along.

Mae: Oh, I was thinking we'd go play putt-putt out in Hunwick.

What's with Mayday? We haven't played putt-putt in a long time.

Bea: Mae, that's actually not a bad idea, but sorry, I got work.

She starts pouting a pout that I found adorable. _Wait, adorable?_

Mae: Awww geez. What is even the point?

Bea: Paychecks, rent, food, medicine. That kinda thing. So do you want to come along or not?

Little did I know, I was about to experience something well worth the work.


	2. House Call

**Mae POV**

I followed Bea towards the house that called for repairs involving a furnace that was in the woods, the night sky being black as it always is with the moon and the house ahead being our only sources of light.

I groaned due to the fact that we weren't going to do anything fun.

Mae: Couldn't you just, like, refuse to do house-calls?

Bea: Nope.

Mae: Why?

Bea: It's called a job. People pay you to do it... ideally, at least.

I groan in anger, but it goes away when I noticed something in the yard and went to check it out. Bea notices I'm not following but doesn't see what I'm looking at.

Bea: You coming?

Mae: There's a thing back here by the driveway!

Upon closer inspection, I realize what it was and looked at it, amazed. Then, I remembered the task at hand and started running back to my crocodile friend.

Bea: Yeah, she's an old lady. She's got weird shit in her yard.

Mae: It's like a windmill.

I finally catch up to her as she started talking again.

Bea: Yep

We continued forward, towards the house in the woods.

Mae: I've never been back here before.

I look at Bea and she gives me a slightly sarcastic smirk as we moved forward.

Bea: Mae Borowski, you have now been here.

I smile, which makes her eyes widen and look away.

Mae: It's nice!

Bea: Yeah, just a bunch of old cabins people turned into houses. Some, hunting camps, so don't, like, get shot or anything.

I look at her with a nervous feeling in my stomach now that she said that.

Mae: Buck season isn't for a few days, right?

Bea: Well, folks get impatient.

I smirk as I realize she's just joking around so I decided to say something.

Mae: For muuuuuurder.

This earned me a small chuckle and a small grin, which filled me with joy and some weird, fuzzy feeling. Don't know why.

Bea: It ain't murder if it's animals.

Mae: That's... dark.

Bea: Hold that thought?

Mae: You gonna knock?

I watch as she knocks on the door, revealing an old fox women. She smiles and lets us enter, leading us to her living room.

Old Fox: Thank you for coming on such short notice.

Bea: No problem.

Old Fox: I can sleep through a four alarm fire but that furnace...!

Bea: she rolls her eyes We'll take a look at it.

Old Fox: Ever since Gene passed, I just can't abide that thumping...

As the two continued their conversation, I though about what Bea told me. What did she mean by that?

Mae: Hey... What did you mean by hold that thought?

She turns me and gives me this small smirk that made feel all warm and giddy inside. I hadn't felt this way since my ex dumped me.

Bea: Wait for it.

Bea turns towards the Old Fox and I listened. While I was listening, I couldn't help but find myself thinking back to her soft look and her cute smirk. Wait, cute? As I tried to think about this, the Old Fox finally said something that pulled me out from my thoughts.

Old Fox: You can't take an old woman's husband just because he's dead!

All I did was stare at the woman in complete disbelief.

Bea: There it is.

Mae: Holy god...

Bea turns to me again, giving me a loving smile. I felt so nervous, yet excited at the same time. When she smiled at me, I felt like the weight of the world was finally off my shoulders. This wasn't the first. Last time was with... Cole...

Mae: _D-Do I like Bea?_

I felt my cheeks become warmer at the thought of this. Even though my return felt a bit rocky between the two of us, ever since then, I couldn't shake this comforting feeling, knowing that she will be there.

Hell, she hated me before we went to that stupid party and she drove me home. She didn't have to do that, but she did it. Even though I don't remember the car ride, it made me feel happy that she did that for a complete waste of space like me.

As we headed downstairs to fix the furnace, I came up with one conclusion.

Mae: _I'm in love with Bea Santello, my former best friend..._


	3. If It Is Broke, Don't Fix It

**Bea POV**

Mae and I headed downstairs, while praying that the Old Fox doesn't lock us in here, to the basement. In front of us a large furnace installed by my family, a couple of drawers and a metal storage closet. Behind us, under the stairs was a couple of packed boxes, including a conveniently placed baseball bat.

Mae: O-Oh man, I love creepy basements.

I turned to Mae with a confused look on my face, asking myself if she really did just stutter. I knew her from the past and now. She rarely stuttered, as she was always sure of herself. Mae seemed really nervous for some reason, and I felt worried about her too.

Brushing it off as a friend thing, I turn back to the furnace, trying to hide my worried look, and just played along.

Bea: Aaand why wouldn't you. Look at all this... splendor.

Mae: **looks around** Geez she's got a lot of junk. **chuckles a little** Maybe she's got a few more husbands stacked in the corner.

I smile and snicker a little. Now that's my Mae. But why did feel different, but in a good way? And why did I think of her as my Mae.

Bea: _Is it possible that...? N-No... it couldn't be... could it?_

I try to shake the idea out of my head, feeling a small blush appear on my cheeks.

Bea: A-Alright, let's get this done so we can home.

The both of us walked towards the furnace, where Mae just looks at with a cute, curious look.

Bea: _No! Bad Bea! Stop!_

Mae: That's the furnace?

Bea: That's the furnace.

Mae: I've decided his name is Clanky.

Bea: **snickers** Okay, you just hang out. I'm going to fix this right quick. Don't, like... break anything.

Mae: What am I gonna break? This is a basement full of crap!

Sighing, I walk forward with my cigarette lit in my mouth, looking over the furnace. Quickly I spot the problem.

Bea: Oh geez... okay. Shouldn't be long.

Mae: Can I help?

The moment she said that, my heart just stopped. As lovable _Dammit brain!_ as she is, I remembered every moment she tried to build or fix things, which usually ends in disaster.

Bea: Nope!

Mae: Why am I here then?

Bea: **smirks** Because you wanted to come along. Just chill.

When she stopped speaking, I assumed she decided to stop talking and went to work, while subconsciously thinking about how much Mae really means to me.

 **Mae POV**

Dammit! I was hoping she would say yes!

After what seemed like hours of debating with myself whether or not I truly fell for the goth girl, I accepted that as fact. The easy part was accepting how I felt about Bea. Now comes the hard part: impressing her.

I was hoping she'd let me help so I could impress her with my repairman skills (which were completely nonexistent), so I tried to devise a different plan.

Mae: _Aha! I'll try and fix it myself! Bea will have no choice but to be impressed! But I'll need some gear..._

Knowing that Bea probably won't let me use her tools that she is using, I decided to get a bit crafty. Upon closer examination, I came up with my own solution.

Mae: I _bet I can make something out of all this... junk. Geez. Who even would have this much junk?_

Exploring the room, I gathered a green fan, an orange fishing pole, a blue gnome, and a tennis racket. Once that was done, I headed back to the furnace and improvised a foolproof plan.

 **One epic building montage later...**

I looked at my own invention with a proud look on my face.

Mae: Hey alright! I should, like, start a company: Sustainable Garbage Turbine!!!

Bea: OK, done!

Mae: What?!

I see the beautiful crocodile walk out from behind the furnace.

Bea: I think I fixed it. Now let's see what we've got here...

She turns to look at me and I smiled widely.

Mae: Yeah we did!

Bea: *We?* What did you do?!

Mae: **shows off creation** I engineered an elegant long-term solution.

I felt proud that she looked at what I created... that is until it fell apart.

Mae: ...goddammit.

Bea: Way to go Mae. Please don't ever fix anything ever again. Like, don't even have a pet. Anything you have to maintain.

Mae: Aw friggin crap!!! It was totally gonna work!!! This is so typical!!!

Wanting to end the conversation and sulk, I just kicked my failed invention and sat down, my head in my hands.

 **Bea POV**

I watched as Mae angrily kicked the invention she created and failed at keep together, and sit down with her head in her hands.

Honestly, I felt really bad for her. I mean, sure, the invention looked no better than a broken toaster oven, but she did genuinely try help in a way that didn't involve destroying everything.

I wanted to tell her that, but I was kinda... okay, a lot worried that she would take it the wrong way and keep sulking in sadness.

Bea: I'm going to check the exit...

The both of us head towards the stairs, while my mind keeps worrying about Mae.

Bea: _She really did try her hardest to fix something... Maybe I should cut her some slack..._

I headed up the stairs while Mae stayed behind. When I went to open the door, I realized that the old lady locked the door... AGAIN!

Bea: Dammit...

Walking back down, I look at Mae with the most angry look I had.

Bea: Well, we're locked in. AAAAAGH! I knew this was gonna happen! Stupid, stupid Bea!

I sit on the stairs, staring at the ground in defeat and sigh. I didn't even notice Mae sat next to me until she put an arm over my shoulder, startling me. I turn to look at her, seeing a comforting smile and eyes filled with love and concern.

Mae: It isn't your fault Bea. Sure, you knew this would happen, but there was nothing you could do about it. The fox locked us in here, so she's the one at fault.

I look at her with wide eyes, using every atom in my body to not cry and hug her. We, then, realize that she still had her arm on me and moved away from each other, blushing like crazy while looking away.

Mae: S-Sorry...

Taking a deep breath, I turn to look at her, giving a genuine smile, which catches her by surprise.

Bea: It's fine. Thanks for coming over... and I'm proud that you tried to fix a problem rather than break it down for once.

Mae face turns as red as a tomato as she gives me a shy smile. It felt like an eternity before we decided to focus on the task at hand.

Mae: Maybe... you could try an yell for her.

I give off a humored smile, feeling like the world was off my shoulders.

Bea: It's not gonna work... MRS MIRANDAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! It didn't work.

Mae gave off a small giggle, making me feel victorious. I look back to the door and the knob carefully.

Bea: Well, this knob is really old and loose. Maybe I can like... Figure this out...

Mae: I'll look around too!

As she said that, her eyes went wide with excitement, giving me the impression that she kinda enjoys this call to adventure. It's kinda cute. _Brain why?!_ I blush slightly and chuckles.

Bea: Y-Yeah. You go look around a whole bunch.

With that said, I went up to the door, trying to find away to get out while thinking about Mae.

Bea: _I... I think I'm in love with Mae_.

 **Mae POV**

As Bea went up the stairs to try and figure out what to do with the lock, I decided to look around to see if there was anything that could help. I walk up to the furnace and look at it first.

Mae: Hm. The one thing she *could* hear is this furnace... when it was... broken...

I look at the furnace, then a baseball bat near the stairs. I sigh sadly, realizing what I need to do.

Mae: Broken things need to be... broken... I hope Bea doesn't end up hating me...

I walk towards the baseball bat and look towards it. Then I look around for any other tools that I can use to not do this, only to sigh when I found nothing.

Mae: Well it's the one tool I do know how to use...

Picking up the bat, I decided that if we want to get out, I had to do it. I glare at the furnace, raising the bat for its purpose.

Mae: A

Mae: Tool

Mae: For

Mae: Beating

Mae: Ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I charge towards the furnace, and, once I was close enough, started to swing the bat in my hands. Once it hit the furnace, a puff of fire escaped and felt the adrenaline pumping in my veins. I, then, continued my assault, causing more loud noises and explosions, until it started to act up by itself.

I laughed like an insane asylum patient as I had released my inner rage on the poor mechanical device.

Mae: Suck it you piece of crap furnace!

I turn to see Bea, looking at me, staring at me in shock. I dropped the bat and tried to find anymore emotions in her eyes, only to find none.

Bea: Wow... that is pretty loud...

I hung my head in sorrow, scratching the back of my head.

Mae: Yeah... geez...

Bea: Surprised I can't hear that back in town.

She looks back to the door and a small smile grew on her lips.

Bea: Ok cool she's coming. Thank god. Hey Mrs. Miranda! You locked us in!

I just stood there quietly, waiting to leave the basement.


	4. Fireflies

**3rd POV**

After what happened down in the basement, the two girls were sitting on the porch of the old fox's home. They were completely silent, wanting nothing more than to just talk, though they didn't know what to say. A few minutes of awkward silence pasts when Mae finally decided to say something.

Mae: Well... that was... fun...

Bea: Uh huh...

Mae: **concerned** You... alright? Mrs. Miranda did give us lemonade...

Bea: Yeah...

Mae: Do you not like lemonade?

Bea: **sighs** It's faaaaantastic...

Mae: **getting slightly nervous** Then what's up?

Bea: Nothing. Just tired. Worked all day.

While the cat wasn't much of a detective, she did know that Bea wasn't telling the complete truth.

Mae: Hm...

She was thinking about how to get Bea to tell her what's on her mind, when Mae noticed something in the distance. Then it came to her.

 **Bea POV**

I looked down to the ground as Mae walked up ahead, probably to wait for me in the car while I think to myself.

I really wanted to tell her that I was thinking about what happened down in the basement. It honestly caused me concern for her when it happened and I was a bit scared. When I heard footsteps, I looked up to see Mae with a swarm of fireflies behind her. My eyes went wide in shock as she let them swarm around her in me and my heart just started racing. A smile grew on my face as I looked towards the cat.

Bea: Wow. Ha ha ha. Are you like a firefly whisperer or something?

Mae: **smiling** They just like me I guess!

Bea: You're an interesting person, Mae Borowski.

Mae: My granddad said being interesting is all you can hope to be.

Bea: **chuckles** Well, mission accomplished.

Mae: Woohoo.

The smile only grew wider on my face as I looked at her. I never felt more like me in a long time. Looking down slightly, I continued.

Bea: You know, I have to say this would have been a much less exciting evening if you weren't along for the ride.

Mae was caught by surprise when I said that, her cheeks becoming a dark red color.

Mae: I-I guess I can be good to have around.

Bea: **chuckles** I mean you can certainly bet the shit out a furnace.

As soon as I said that, I noticed she slightly glanced down a little.

Bea: **concerned** Hey, you alright?

Mae: ...I-I'm sorry about that Bea. I just kinda lost it and all that hard work you put in fixing the furnace went to waste.

Bea: Hey, it's alright. Honestly, it did kinda scare the crap out of me, but you were only trying to help us get out. If you want my opinion though, you should try channeling that aggression to something useful.

Mae: Dr. Hank said way back I needed to repress it.

Bea: **eyes widen** "Repress"? Not like "learn to deal with it"?

Mae: He specifically said "repress".

That's why Mae was like that down there! If she just represses her anger rather than dealing with it, of course she's gonna be the equivalent a ticking time bomb.

Bea: **slightly angered** No offense to your doctor, but he sounds like an idiot and a douchebag.

After a slightly longer awkward silence, I heard Mae sit right next to me. I looked towards her and she had these apologetic-looking eyes and looked to be on the verge of tears.

Mae: I'm sorry...

 **Mae POV**

Those two words escaped my mouth as a couple of tears escaped my eyes. Before Bea could ask what I meant, I continued.

Mae: I'm sorry that you had to give up your dream to help your dad. I'm sorry that you lost your mom. I'm sorry for every bad thing that happened to you... but...

I looked towards Bea, who was shocked to see my tearful eyes. Guess she didn't think I would ever cry now.

Mae: I'm sorry for being the shittiest excuse of a friend! I should have been there for you, but I was so stupid! And because of that...! looks down I lost my best friend...

The moment I said that, I lost it. I started bawling out of control, putting my hands on my face. I wouldn't blame Bea if she didn't want hang out anymore. My emotions were not only whacked, they can be pretty annoying. I deserve it after everything I did to her.

But, then...

She hugged me...

I stopped crying and looked up at her. I felt time slow down and my heartbeat slow down as she looked at me. A caring smile was on her face.

Bea: Mae, you will always be something to me.

Time had slowed even more as the beating of my heart was getting louder. Our faces were inching closer towards each other. We stopped, literally an inch away from each other. I couldn't take it any longer, so I grabbed the side of Bea's face, closed my eyes and pulled her into a kiss.

I could tell she was shocked, but what surprised me was that I felt her kiss me back, wrapping her arms around my waist. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her as physically close as I could.

I felt fireworks explode in my heart and all worry left my body. What felt like centuries, or even decades, was just a few minutes as I broke the kiss. I opened my eyes, blushing crazy as Bea was the same. A smile appeared on my face as one grew on hers.

Mae: That was...

Bea: Fun?

Mae: Yeah. Um... do you... uh... wanna go on a date... tomorrow night?

Bea: **smiling** Alright, you pick the place, I'll drive.

Mae: **smiling** Deal.

Bea and I, then, watched the fireflies in a comfortable silence. I will never forget this moment for a long time.


End file.
